


uncle Andy

by SugdenLovesDingle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22882153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Andy returns to the village
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Comments: 21
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> robron are just mentioned in this first part, and I'm not sure who would or wouldn't recognise Andy if he came back, so just go with it that they don't ;)

He looked around the village as the bus drove away. As far as he could tell not much had changed in all the years he’d been away. He wasn’t sure what he was doing there or if his family even still lived in the village.

A police car drove past and he froze. Mostly out of habit. He had nothing to fear. He hadn’t been arrested at the border, he sure as hell wouldn’t be arrested here.

But then again, Brian Moore didn’t have a criminal record, Andy Sugden however…

He shook his head to clear his mind and walked further into the village, hoping to see a familiar face. Unfortunately he only saw two teenagers snogging on a bench and he briefly wondered if he’d known them as babies.

After wandering around the village a bit and seeing Sugden-Dingle and Dingle above the door of the (closed up) garage, he decided to head to the pub. It was obvious his family was still around in some way, and the Woolpack had always been the centre of the village. And even if he wouldn’t catch his siblings or his kids in there, surely there would be someone who could tell him where to find them.

He pushed the door open and other than two people behind the bar he didn’t know, an unfamiliar couple in a corner and a boy of about 12 at the bar, the place was unusually quiet.

“Hiya what can I get ya?” the man behind the bar asked. Andy guessed him to be about Vic’s age, and wondered if he knew her at all.

“The kitchen is closed though because both chefs are off sick.” The woman next to him explained. “Well one of them is off camping with the kids and the hubs and the other is meeting the son in law for the first time. I don’t know which of them is getting the worst deal.” she laughed loudly.

“Uh just an orange juice please.”

“Sure thing mate.” the man said and turned around to get him his drink.

“So, I haven’t seen you around these parts before.” the woman prompted. “Are you passing or staying?”

“I uh… Haven’t decided yet. I used to live around here, a long time ago. So did my family… But we kind of lost touch so I’ve come to see if they still live around here.” he paused to take a sip of his drink. “I don’t suppose you know where I can find Robert Sugden do you?”

The woman grinned.

“Other than balls deep in his husband you mean?” she laughed loudly as the man next to her groaned.

“Mandy, do you mind?! I really don’t need that visual. And neither does he.” the man gestured at the boy at the bar who pulled a face of disgust and confusion.

“You shouldn’t even be in here, brat.” she told the boy. “Why aren’t you in school? Skiving again?”

“No. Teacher training day.” the boy told her. “And I’m helping my nan.”

“Helping her by sitting here all day?”

“I’m on a break. She said I could hang out with Matty for a bit.”

“Matty’s working. Or well, he should be.” the woman said, turning to the man behind the bar with her.

“I am. Unlike you.”

The woman, Mandy, rolled her eyes and turned back to Andy.

“Sorry love, what were you after again?”

“Robert Sugden, do you know him? Does he still live around here? Or Victoria Sugden?”

“Who wants to know?” Mandy asked. “Vic’s had enough trouble with men to last her a lifetime, she doesn’t need some randomer stalking her.”

“I’m not some randomer, I’m her brother.”

At that moment the boy’s head shot up.

“You’re Victoria’s brother? Are you Robert’s brother too?”

“Uh yes… Do you know him?”

The boy nodded eagerly.

“Robert is my dad. One of them anyway.”

“Come again?” Andy said, taking a good look at the boy. He was blond like Robert and he supposed he had similar features to him. “Robert Sugden is your dad?”

The boy nodded again.

“Well it’s Sugden-Dingle these days isn’t it?” Mandy interrupted. “Best of both worlds and all.”

“Sugden-Dingle?”

“That’s right.” the boy said. “I’m Seb, who are you?”

“I uh… I guess I’m your uncle Andy.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Uncle Andy?” Seb beamed. “That’s so cool! I only have one uncle. Well there is uncle Jimmy too but he’s not really my uncle. He’s just dads' friend and I call him uncle Jimmy. But you’re a real one! ”

Andy smiled at the boy.

“Yep. And at least there’s one person here that’s happy to see me.”

Seb frowned.

“Does my dad not like you?”

“It’s… Complicated.” Andy settled on, not knowing how much Robert had told him.

That seemed to satisfy Seb for a moment until he was distracted by a man of around Andy’s own age slinging an arm around his shoulder and calling him mate.

“Seb, mate, I’m looking for your dad.” the man said.

“Which one?”

“Either will do… But preferably Aaron.”

Seb thought for a minute.

“He hasn’t said anything… I think he’s just at work.” he shrugged.

“Yeah, no, I’ve just come from there and the cabin is locked.” he turned to the man and woman behind the bar. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen him either?”

“sorry mate not since this morning in the cafe.” the man said.

The other man sighed.

“I texted him that I needed to talk about the schedule with him but he hasn’t replied. He has me on a pick up in Bristol on Thursday but I’m doing a job for Home James on Wed and I won’t be back yet by then. I was hoping to catch either of them at the yard but no luck. ”

“Well he’s probably busy.” Mandy started with a grin “You know what they say eh Billy, don’t come knocking when the portacabin is rocking.” she laughed loudly and the other two men groaned.

“Yeah thanks for that Mandy. I really needed that visual of my boss.” Billy said and turned to Seb. “If you see your dads, tell them I’m looking for them, yeah?”

Seb nodded and shared some kind of special handshake with Billy before he left.

“So, he works for your dad?” Andy asked.

“Yeah, that’s Billy. He works for both of them.” Seb told him.

“What do you mean both of them?”

“Both of my dads.”

“What?!”

“Oh this is going to be interesting.” Mandy said, leaning on the bar. “I guess you don’t know your brother that well eh?”

“You have two dads?”

“Yeah.” Seb said simply. “Daddy Robert and daddy Aaron. But I don’t really call them that anymore. I just say dad. My sisters do say that though but they’re only little.”

“Aaron… Dingle? Is your dad?”

“Yeah. Do you know him too?”

“A little. From a long time ago.”

“You should come home with me! We can surprise them!”

“Erm Seb maybe you should just wait in here for your parents.” Matty suggested. “I’m sure that will be enough of a surprise for them.”

“It’s not a surprise if he’s right here.” Seb protested.

“They don’t know he will be here do they? That makes it a surprise.” Mandy argued.

Seb sighed.

“Alright…”

“We’re just looking out for you, kid.” 

“They’re right.” Andy added. “You only met me five minutes ago. You should be more careful with strangers.”

“But you’re my uncle. You’re not a stranger.” Seb argued.

“Still. Let’s just stay in here for now.” 

“Seb, come on let’s go.” A voice came from the backroom. Andy recognised the voice even if he didn’t see the person it belonged to.

“No, dad, you need to come in here. I have a surprise for you.”

“You can show me at home. Come on let’s go. it’s just the three of us tonight because your sisters are at that sleepover party thing at… what’s that girl’s name again… Louise?”

“Lucy.” Seb corrected his father. “And I can’t show you at home. You have to see it here.”

“I think you’re going to want to see this.” Mandy said with a grin.

“What have you done? You know my mum’s going to kill you and then sack you if you’ve done something to her pub.”

“I haven’t done anything!” Mandy protested

“Including working.” Matty mumbled under his breath, earning him a glare from Mandy.

“Just one minute dad.” Seb pleaded. 

“Fine.” Aaron sighed as he walked through to the bar and over to where his son was sitting. “What did you want to show me?”

“I think that would be me.” Andy spoke up.

Aaron looked at him for a minute as if he was trying to figure out who he was and why he was there.

“Andy?” he frowned.

“Come on, I haven’t changed that much have I?”

“What the fu- hell are you doing here?!”

“It’s been a while… I thought I’d come see how the family was doing… a lot has changed.” He looked at Seb.

“He’s my uncle.” Seb announced happily. “Like uncle Jimmy… but real.”

“Uncle Jimmy is your real uncle.” Aaron reminded Seb and focused on Andy again. “Does Robert know you’re back?”

Andy shook his head.

“I’ve only been here for 10 minutes. I didn’t know if he even still lived around here.”

“He does. We do.” Aaron told him. “He’s been through hell trying to find you so many times over the years…”

“I moved around a lot. Never stayed in one place for long… so the police wouldn’t find me.” Andy explained.

“They’re not looking for you. Robert cleared your name.”

“He did?”

Aaron nodded.

“You’re his brother. He cares about you… for some reason.” he turned to Seb. “Come on, we’re going home.”

“But what about uncle Andy? Can’t he come with us?”

“He’ll be tired from travelling. I’m sure they’ll have a room for him at the B&B.”

“Do you live in the village?” Andy asked.

“Yes. Mill Cottage.” Aaron said shortly. “Which is where we’re going now. Come on Seb.” he walked to the door and held it open, waiting for Seb to follow him.

The boy reluctantly climbed down from his barstool and walked over to his dad.

“Bye uncle Andy.” he called out just before leaving the pub.

“Bye kid, bye Aaron.” Andy replied.

Seb waved at him while Aaron gently but firmly pushed his son out the door.

“So,” Mandy started, expectantly leaning on the bar. “I bet that wasn’t the family reunion you were hoping for.”


	3. Chapter 3

Andy looked over his shoulder at the now closed door.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting to be honest… But well… not this. They’re married?”

“I take it you didn’t know your brother swings both ways then?” Mandy asked.

”No I did know… They were together when I left… I just… didn’t think they’d still be together… and have a kid.”

“Three kids.” Mandy corrected him. “Two girls and the lad you saw just now.”

“Right… Who is their mother?”

“I know the twins were born via rent-a-womb… but I’m not sure about the boy. Do you know?” She asked Matty.

“Yeah. Vic’s told me.”

“Well who is it then?” Mandy demanded when Matty didn’t say anything else.

“I don’t think it’s my place to fill you in on all that.” Matty told Andy. “I think they’d rather tell you themselves.”

Andy scoffed.

“Judging by Aaron’s reaction just now, I don’t think they’ll want to tell me anything.”

Matty shrugged.

“Sorry mate. Not my place.”

“Yeah… I understand.” Andy sighed. “What about Vic? You mentioned her earlier.” He turned to Mandy, already having figured out she was the one most likely to tell him what he wanted to know.

“She’s the boss in the kitchen here.” Mandy told him. “Took over from Marlon a few years ago. Do you know our Marlon?” she asked and Andy nodded. “Well they both still work here but she’s in charge now since Marlon took a step back. health reasons you know, he is getting on a bit.”

“Vic is married, to Ellis. Marlon’s stepson. They have four kids.” Matty cut in. “Billy from earlier is Ellis’ brother.”

“Right yeah, there is Harry, he’s the eldest and he’s about Seb’s age isn’t he?” Mandy asked Matty.

“Harry is younger.”

“Right. And then there’s Jess, a boy, another boy called Sean, and a girl called Jackie.” Mandy said, counting the names down on her fingers. “And there is the little Chapman bun in the oven.”

“Mandy!” Matty said like he was scolding a child but Mandy ignored him.

Andy frowned.

“Vic… is pregnant?”

Mandy smiled.

“Oh yes. Looks like you’re becoming uncle Andy once again. Do you have any kids yourself?”

“Uh yeah… two… Jack and Sarah. Debbie Dingle is their mother. Do they still live around here too?”

“They moved to Scotland years ago.” Matty told him. “But I’m sure plenty of people around here will have the address.”

Andy nodded and sipped his drink.

“Right. Thanks.”

—

“Let’s not tell your dad about seeing Andy in the pub, alright?” Aaron told Seb as they walked down the street.

“Why not? Does dad not like him?”

“He does. But he uhm… well… he’s been away for a long time. Remember when dad got sick and was in the hospital? And you stayed with nana and it was all kind of scary?”

Seb nodded.

“Well that was because he was looking for Andy. He’s Sarah’s dad. And when she was very sick we thought he should know. But we couldn’t find him. And your dad, he was really worried… and that made him ill.”

“So that’s uncle Andy’s fault?”

“No… Not really. It’s just… it’s going to be a lot to take in for your dad. I’ll tell him tonight, after you’ve gone to bed. Let’s just be extra nice to him tonight. Tell him we love him and we’ll make his favourite for tea.”

“We’re going to cook?” Seb frowned, knowing that out of the two of them, Aaron wasn’t the parent with the best cooking skills.

“We’re ordering in.”

“Can we have chips?”

“We had chips two days ago.” Aaron reminded him. “If it was up to you we’d have chips every day.” he dug his keys out of his pocket and opened the door. “And remember. Not a word to your dad.”

“Not a word to your dad about what?” Robert asked, walking up behind them. “My meeting got cancelled so I decided to call it a day.” He explained.

Seb looked back and forth between his parents, unsure what to do or say.

Aaron sighed.

“Go on, you can tell him.”

“We met uncle Andy in the pub!” Seb beamed.

“You what?!”

“Andy’s back.” Aaron explained. “He was in the pub…”

Robert blinked a few times.

“Andy is back.” he stated.

“Looks like it.”

“And why wasn’t I allowed to know?” Robert asked, getting annoyed.

“Dad wanted to tell you tonight. He was afraid you’d get upset again like when Sarah was ill.”

Robert’s face softened.

“That was a one off and a long time ago. I’m fine now, I promise. You two don’t have to worry about me.”

“We worry because we love you.” Aaron told him and pressed a small kiss to his lips.

“Me too dad.” Seb said and hugged his father.

Suddenly Aaron’s phone rang. He frowned when he checked the caller ID.

“Lucy’s mum.” He told Robert. “Hello?” He walked a few steps away from Seb and Robert. “You’re joking. I asked her if she had everything before we left this morning.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, it’s ok. I’ll come drop it off. Yeah. Give me half an hour. Ok, bye.”

“Everything ok?” Robert asked.

“That was Lucy’s mum. Ruby forgot her toothbrush and PJs and they both forgot their PE kit for tomorrow.” Aaron sighed. “I should have checked their bags myself.”

“The PE kits are in my car.” Robert said, handing Aaron his car keys.

A few minutes later Aaron was on his way to Lucy’s house and Robert and Seb were standing in the Mill’s doorway. Robert looked over Seb’s head in the general direction of the pub and came to a decision.

“How do you feel about Marlon’s chips for tea?”

Seb beamed.

“We’re going back? To see uncle Andy?”

“Yeah. Yeah we are.” Robert pulled the door closed and locked it. “Come on, let’s go.”

Seb excitedly ran ahead and Robert followed close behind. His heart was pounding. He hadn’t been this nervous just walking to the pub since the day he married Aaron.

When they reached the pub Seb pushed open the door and went inside without so much as looking back at his father.

“Uncle Andy, we’re back!” Robert heard him say before the door swung closed again. He wanted to follow but somehow couldn’t bring himself to open the door. Instead he took his phone out of his pocket and sent Aaron a quick text.

We went to the pub. Seb fancied chips. X

He hit send and closed the message app again.

“It’s just Andy. Get over yourself.” He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and going in to meet the brother he never thought he’d see again in this lifetime.


	4. Chapter 4

When he walked into the pub Andy was standing at the bar with Seb excitedly climbing onto a barstool next to him.

“Hello again brother.” Andy was the first to speak. “It’s been a while.”

“You could say that...” Robert settled on. He slowly walked over to the bar, putting himself between Seb and Andy. Like he wanted to shield his son from whatever drama Andy undoubtedly was bringing to their doorstep.

“Can I get you anything, Robert?” Matty asked, trying to ease the tension in the room.

“No thanks. Just chips for Seb.”

“Kitchen is closed.” Mandy told him. “Marlon’s off, and Vic’s gone camping.”

Robert raised an eyebrow at her.

“Surely you can fix him up some chips, Mandy. He’s your boss’ grandson after all.”

“I only get paid to pull pints.”

“Which you don’t do either. You hang around behind that bar, gossiping about everything and everyone while Matty does all the work.”

“What?! I... You! This. I can’t believe this! What?!” Mandy sputtered and Robert rolled his eyes at her.

“I’ll sort some chips. Come on Seb, you can help me.” Matty said leading Seb away from the drama that seemed to be kicking off in the bar.

“You haven’t changed much then.” Andy grinned after Seb had left with Matty and Mandy had gone over to the other side of the bar to talk to some guy he didn’t recognise.

Robert shrugged.

“He wanted chips. I promised him chips. I don’t like breaking my promises.”

“Right. Is that a dig at me?”

“I tried to find you. Sarah was sick, we thought it was the end and I hired 2 private detectives to try and find you. The closest they came was some village in Switzerland where someone remembered you from years ago.”

“I moved around a lot.” Andy explained. “I thought the police were looking for me.”

Robert shook his head.

“I cleared your name.”

“Yeah... Aaron told me. Thanks...”

“Yeah...”

“So... You and Aaron eh?” Andy said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

“What about us?”

“You’re married? And Mandy told me you have three kids? I didn’t expect that to be honest.” 

“Why? Because I ruin all relationships I’m in?”

Andy shrugged.

“You don’t exactly have a history of faithfulness.”

“And you do?” Robert shot back.

“Fair enough.” Andy sighed. “But I didn’t come here to fight. I wanted to see my family and get to know them again.”

“Why now?” Robert asked, or rather, demanded. “I spent years looking for you but you’d just disappeared off the face of the earth, I missed my daughters’ third birthday because I was in hospital after I’d collapsed due to exhaustion and stress from trying to track you down, and now suddenly, my 11 year old son tells me he met uncle Andy in the pub.”

“I just... I’ve been thinking about it for a while... but I was afraid I’d be arrested as soon as I set foot on British soil.”

“And? As far as you knew they were still looking for you.”

“I missed everyone. I saw a girl the spitting image of Sarah... and I just... wanted to see her. And Jack. And you and Vic. And I figured this place was a good place to start.”

Robert nodded.

If there was something he definitely could relate to, it was missing your family. He remembered the first time he had to spend the night away from home after the twins were born. Seb was only 5 and even though Liv and Chas were around to help out, Robert still felt like the worst father and husband on the planet for leaving Aaron alone with 3 small children.

“Debbie moved to Scotland with them. Lisa left her a garage up there.”

“Left her? Lisa died?”

“In 2019.” 

“Dad! Matty and I made hamburgers!” Seb announced happily as he walked back into the bar, carrying a large plate of chips and a hamburger with the entire fridge piled onto it.

“Did you now? I thought you only wanted chips?” Robert said, steering him over to a table. “And there’s lettuce on this burger, you hate rabbit food remember?”

“Yeah but Matty said this is the way they eat it in America.” Seb explained.

Ever since Matty had gone travelling around America for a few months with his (now ex) girlfriend the year before, he’d been Seb’s (and Isaac’s) hero.

“Oh right, of course. Well then you have to have it like they do in America, right?” Robert said, sharing a knowing look with Matty.

“Exactly.” Seb agreed. “Do you want a bite, dad?”

“No thanks, mate. I’m talking to your uncle Andy right now and I’m not hungry. I’ll just share some chips with your dad when he gets back.” Robert told Seb and left him to it.

“So... you and Aaron married with kids... how did that happen?” Andy asked when Robert got back to his place at the bar. Judging by the soft smile on Robert’s face, Andy figured he’d found a safe subject to talk about.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andy is a bit of a dick in this chapter... 
> 
> Also chaddy never happened, so there is no Eve (or Grace) and Liv is Aaron's only sibling. Because I hate chaddy with a passion.
> 
> also also - yes Robert calls Chas mum. Would he do that in canon (eventually)? Maybe, maybe not. Thanks to Ryan we'll never know. Does he do it here? Yes.

"We got married in 2018." Robert said with a smile. "Best day of my life." he twisted his ring around his finger, a habit he'd picked up from Aaron. "mum, I mean Chas, put up some photos in here." he nodded at the wall.

Andy frowned.

"You call Chas mum?"

Robert blushed, feeling like he'd just been caught doing something embarrassing.

"Uh... Yeah... I mean... That's what she is... My mother in law. It felt weird calling her by her name. Seb has always called her nana and obviously Aaron calls her mum too... It just... Made sense..."

Andy nodded slowly.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Chas Dingle would let you of all people call her mum. What does she call you?"

"Just my name..."

"Does she refer to you as her son in law?" Andy asked incredulously.

"Uh yeah... Sometimes..."

"Wow. Who would have thought."

"I'm married to her son, Andy. That's how it works." Robert snapped.

"I know, I know," Andy held his hands up in defeat. "I just didn't expect to come back to any of this."

"This?" Robert asked "As in me happily married or me happily married to a man?"

"Both I suppose."

"When you left you told me to stick with Aaron because he was good for me and made me a better person."

"Yeah and I meant that. I just.. Didn't think you would." Andy shrugged. "You never showed an interest in blokes when we were growing up. I just figured it was something to wind Chrissie up."

"I never showed an interest in blokes when we were growing up because dad wouldn't let me." Robert hissed. He didn't want Seb, or even worse, Mandy to overhear. "He caught me with a boy in my room when I was 15 and he leathered me for it."

"That doesn't sound like dad."

"Why would I make that up?! It took me 15 years to figure out who I was and how to be happy with that. Aaron helped me and I've gone to counselling."

Andy looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"You? Counselling!?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Robert sighed.

“Yeah... It kind of is. I never thought you were the type.”

“I‘m sorry, I didn’t know getting help dealing with your problems was limited to a certain type.” Robert said sarcastically.

“Oh Robert, love, I’m glad I caught you.” Chas said, walking into the bar from the back. “Have you sorted anything for the girls yet for the 23rd?”

“Uh, not really. We thought we’d ask Jimmy and Nicola. Angel loves babysitting them, and they adore her.”

“Right, well, if they’re busy, Noah just rang me. His mate is getting married and they want to have the stag do here. They’ll sort the brewery order themselves and he and Samson are minding the bar, so I can put my feet up.”

“And you want to spend your day off with the twins? Don’t you want to enjoy some peace and quiet?”

“With Noah’s mates in here? Fat chance of that happening. I’ll only be checking up on them every 10 minutes.”

Robert smiled.

“Alright two six year old distractions coming up.”

“Good.” Chas agreed happily. “I’ll take them shopping and get our nails done. Make a proper girly day of it.”

“Mum, they’re only six.”

“I know. But I’m sure they can do with a new barbie doll and some glittery nail varnish.”

“You spoil them. But don’t tell them about the nail varnish or they’ll tell Seb and he won’t want to come with us anymore.” Robert said, looking over his shoulder to Seb who was chatting to Matty. “I think he’s this close to packing the football in.”

“I thought he liked it?”

“He did. But he’s becoming more interested in other things. We wanted to buy tickets to a football match for his birthday but he asked if we could go see a show in London with Isaac instead.”

“Oh really? Well who knows, maybe he’ll be the next big theatre star.”

“Yeah, he likes to dance. Aaron thought we could find a dance class for him if he wants to quit the football. He might be the next Billy Elliot.” Robert joked.

Next to him Andy snorted.

“Anything I can help you with?” Chas asked, unimpressed. She didn’t seem to recognise him, probably because Andy Sugden was about the last person she’d expected to see in her bar.

“No, I’m alright, Chas.” Andy said and enjoyed seeing the realisation wash over her.

“You found him?” she asked Robert.

“Nope. He just showed up.”

“I thought it was time to find my family again.”

“Oh really?” Chas put her hands on her hips, gearing up for a fight. Robert secretly loved it. “You wanted to see your family but you couldn’t be bothered to send your son or daughter a birthday card? Or let your brother or sister know you’re alive?”

“Well... I didn’t know it was safe... and Debbie moved away didn’t she?”

“You could’ve sent it here. I would’ve made sure it reached them.”

“Dad?” Seb asked and pulled Robert’s attention away from the showdown between his mother in law and his brother. “When we go to London, can uncle Andy come with?”

“Uh... well... uhm... I uh... well... he could... but we only have four tickets don’t we?” Robert stammered. “You, me, your dad, and Isaac.”

“Oh... but we could buy another ticket?” Seb suggested.

“I don’t think there will be any tickets left. A lot of people want to see this show.”

“Don’t worry mate, we can go do something together some other time.” Andy promised. “I think I’m going to be sticking around for a while.”


End file.
